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My thoughts on the past yearEvery month this year I have written things that I consider important but I want to end the year with something that I think is growing and will become much more of an issue in 2017 — Intolerances I wrote a post on intolerances earlier this year, however very few people read it (LINK), I wondered why—has intolerances become acceptable across the broader community or did I touch on a topic that raises too many questions for Christians. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. (Romans 12:18)
As mothers we need to teach our children to be tolerant — to love one another, to care for one another, to reach out to others. As Christians being tolerant means being loving and considerate of others who differ from us. Being tolerant means being patient and forgiving of others' errors. However, it doesn't mean being tolerant of evil or deliberate wrongdoing, nor does it mean we must believe what they believe as truth (as in other …

On the 17th of October 2016, police broke into a home in a middle classsuburb of Sydney, Australia's largest city to find the bodies of a family—mother, father and their two young children. They also found the body of the family dog. The police have stated that they are not looking for any suspects and believe the father killed the family (it is unknown at this stage if the mother was aware of his plans). In the newspaper articles following the discovery, those who knew the family said they were "loved", a "much valued family in the community" and the mother was bright, cheery, a "rock", happy, heavily involved in the school her two children attended. They appeared to be the perfect family. Even with two severely disabled children, the mother was considered strong and determine and doing a great job. (From: Are you allowing the demon of comparison to destroy your family) NO family is ever perfect and every family will experience challenges, trials, …

We do not celebrate Thanksgiving Day in Australia, regardless, it is still important to be so THANKFUL for that the Lord has provided to us — not just the big things, but all the small things that we often overlook.
Here is a small collection of art that celebrate thanksgiving.

Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. ~ (Psalms 147:7-8)

She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness. (Proverbs 31:26)

One must always be very careful when writing on social media, especially if you have identified yourself. Bloggers love comments, I do — but we need to be mindful of what we write. Some people write personal things and that is fine if you are writing about yourself and your experiences. However, one needs to be very care when you start to write about your husband or wife. Many write beautiful comments, very complimentary comments about their spouse and they are lovely to read. However, it is a very different story when you start to write negative comments about your spouse, especially when you can be identified. However, regardless of identification—it is still wrong. Earl from xxxxx (last name and address were also provided) rated his wife on a Facebook page. He gave her an A for 'shopping and preparing food" and for "having a beautiful home". But raised questions about her ab…

Let all that you do be done with love.(1 Corinthians 16:14) What would our lives look like if we did everything with love and joy? What if we carried out our household chores—washing the car, cleaning the toilet, taking out the trash, making meals for our families, sweeping the kitchen floor—as acts of love? What if we made every interaction of our daily lives—greeting people on the streets, talking to our neighbours, tipping the waitress—an act of love? What if we made sure that everything word we spoke to our spouse, our children, our parents, our co-workers, boss, employees, professors, students, and on and on was an act of love?

Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen. (1 Peter 5:14) Wouldn't our lives to transformed? Wouldn't our testimony for Christ be powerful? We are commanded to love. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (John 13:34) Christian love makes pe…

When I am feeling down, I look at flowers — flowers say joy like nothing else. One cannot feels sad when you look at flowers like these. Perhaps that is why flowers are given to those who are unwell and in hospital. Todays art has been created by God for all of us to enjoy. Whilst I cannot send you all a bunch of flowers, these, I do hope, will brighten up your day and bring you as much joy as they do to me. All these flowers (excluding the red ones) are from garden. My garden is busting with colour at present and when I come home after a day at work, it is such a beautiful welcome to see.
*** “One of the marks of a godly woman is that she takes responsibility for her soul's need for joy and delight. A woman is a conductor, who leads the orchestra of her surroundings in the songs and music of her life. God is a God of creativity and dimension, and so He is pleased when we we co-create beauty in our own realm, through the power of His Spirit.It was a profound realization when I und…

I came across the most amazing story of the early pioneer women in Australia, story I had never heard before and wanted to share. The women from a small town of Hahndorf (in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia) use to supplied the city of Adelaide with fresh produce at a time when most food had to be imported into state of South Australia.

From 1838, when the South Australia colony was just two years old, Lutheran refugees from Prussia (Germany) had settled in the Adelaide Hills forming the village of Hahndorf. Women and girls carrying baskets of vegetables and dairy products on their backs, or on yokes across their shoulders to the city whilst their husbands and fathers worked the land. The women and girls left the village at midnight to walk the rough bush track to Adelaide 35 km away (22 miles).

At about 4.00 am the women reached a stream in the foothills near Beaumont which became a favourite place to rest, wash their sore feet (and put their shoes on) and tidy themselves before w…

Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certainwe can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. (1 Timothy 6:6-8) A few weeks ago I wrote about being content no matter the situation — in good health or in poor health, during a perfect summer or during natures fury. (LINK)
Finding contentment is difficult in our modern society. In fact it is an uphill battle with satan working very hard to make sure you don't find it.
We are always wanting more and even when we don't want anything, everyone around us reminds us that we do. This world is bent on destroying our sense of contentment. All the advertising that bombards us from our televisions, newspapers, womens magazines, radio, billboards are designed to disturb our contentment and make us question our contentment. Aren't we told often to upgrade phones because they are getting "too old" or that our wardrobes do not contai…

Artist: Charles SheelerCharles Sheeler (July 16, 1883 – May 7, 1965) was an American painter and commercial photographer. He is recognized as one of the founders of American modernism and one of the master photographers of the 20th century.
Some of you might find these too industrial, they are not pretty or feminine - but I hope you enjoy looking at this type of art.

Popular posts from this blog

Washing day
Wash on Monday,
Iron of Tuesday,
Mend of Wednesday,
Churn on Thursday,
Clean on Friday,
Bake on Saturday,
Rest on Sunday.
Sometimes the ordinary and mundane have a quiet beauty we haven't really taken much notice of. Today's art is all about the washing on the line and some of these paintings are quite striking.

All quotes used today are by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Enjoy.

"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all."

"Home is the nicest word there is"

"The true way to live is to enjoy every moment as it passes, and surely it is in the everyday things around us that the beauty of life lies"
And what happens after the washing is dry . . . the ironing!

One of the most popular topics among women Christian bloggers is the issue of whether women and girls should only wear skirts and dresses or is it ok to wear slacks/jeans. Some say Christian women should only wear skirts/dresses, others say it isn't a sin issue therefore it doesn't matter as long as the outfit remains modest. Others say skirts should be to the ground, others are happy at knee length. When you look across the blogs the responses are a mixed bag and it must be confusing to those women trying to decide which way to turn. So what do I think? This is my own personal convictions on the topic and I am not telling anyone else what to wear. I grew up wearing skirts/dresses almost exclusively. All the women in my family - young and old - wore skirts and dresses. I simply wasn't allow to wear anything different. I accepted this quite happierly as a child but as I got older (into my teens) it began to niggle me, partly because I began to stand out which wasn't s…

Art Friday: Susan Wheeler
Illustrator
Todays art is all about cute little mice and bunnies. I think they are adorable and I hope you do to. My favourite is the top one - I just wish I could join them for a cup of tea and scones!

Some families are well off, other families struggle financially, some have periods of poverty, others have burst of wealth. We are all different when it comes to how much money we bring in each week, how much money is in the bank or how big or small our debts are. We are all different, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. However I have noticed a growing trend among some Christian families to share with everyone how poor they are, how much they are struggling, how old the washing machine is or all the things they do without. In fact some bloggers activity encourage women to give up their jobs and return home and live in poverty as this is seen as the ultimate Christian sacrifice (interestingly I have seen this done by women who are so much more financially better off which even worse). Some families do exceptionally well on a very low income and others do very badly on a high income. However, what concerns me is the boastfulness of those who have chosen to live in poverty as if those who…

Who remembers free school milk?
I can.
And yuck . . . warm, creamy milk in glass bottles that tasted horrible.
Why were the bottles always left in the sun to get warm, especially in summer? They could sit for quite sometime until recess, some probably went slighly off!
And if you forgot to shake the bottle you got a mouth full of clumpy cream!
The programme started at the beginning of the 20th century with all children in kindergarten, infant and primary schools receiving free milk to improve their nutrition and general health. Between 1951 and 1973 the Commonwealth Schools’ Free Milk Scheme provided one third of a pint of whole milk per day to primary school children throughout Australia. The scheme ceased om 1973 but reintroduced in 1994.
Providing the milk had cost $72,000 in 1951, whereas it had grown in cost to just over $10 million in 1969. By 1970 the government was starting to wonder if the programme was producing any benefit, except turning children off milk. This document …